Feeding advice....

smhiles

Hi all! I'm a very new mom....today is day 4 of being home with our son. I have been BF fairly well, but have had to supplement formula bc he lost more than 10% of his birth weight before we left the hospital. Our first dr's appt is tomorrow, but I thought I'd ask you all for advice about feeding. When I BF, the time he'll stay on varies.... He usually latches well (especially if I squirt a little milk out first) but the time he stays on varies. He often falls asleep and I can't rouse him. He'll then sleep for maybe 15 mins. Then wake hungry..understandable... But, sometimes, even after 50 total mins of nursing, he will wake within 15 mins as well, ravenous still and quickly inhale nearly 2 oz. of formula. The only time I can get him satisfied enough to sleep more than 10-15 mins. is with that formula. I don't want to rely on he formula but I need him to sleep too.... Any ideas, advice, or tips on what I could be doing better would be appreciated!! I'm going to post this on the BF board too...just want to know if anyone else has this issue.

PB102012

Have you tried pumping to see how much he is actually getting on the boob? I had similar problems with weight gain for my LO and when I started pumping I realized how low my supply actually was and the reason for the lack of weight gain. We eventually had to switch to formula feedings because my supply dried up completely despite the fenugreek, mother's milk tea, etc.

olga1311

I had this issue with DD. Undress your LO to diaper When feeding. Try tickling his feet or his cheek. If nothing else helpes have a wet washcloth on standby and wipe your lo's forehead with it. Just try to keep LO awake during feeding. It gets better. First 2 weeks were same for us too and LO . At 4 days they are still so young and naturally sleep all the time

JMU_Bride09

Newborns are notorious for falling asleep eating and being difficult to rouse. Just keep nursing him when he wants to eat. That will do wonders for your supply as well. You can try to get him to sleep longer stretches so that he's more awake for feedings by wearing him in a baby carrier, but I would expect him to continue his eat-sleep-eat routine for a few weeks at least.